Shoe.



. for such uppers to' be'freduced to the minilossen' o .imv1s, or BnooK'roN, MASSACHUSETTS, Assi-suon or. oan-HALF' 'To GEORGE E. KEITH. or BRooKToN,MASSACHUSETTS.; f f

To all whom it may concern Beit known that I, OSCAR C. Davis, a'citizen of. the United States, and resident of Brockton, inthe county of Plymouth and vState of Massachusetts have invented cer. tam-new and useful Improvements in Shoes,

ofwhich the following is av specifica-tion. r This intention relates chiefly -toth'e uppers of welted shoes, and has for its object` vto enable the quantity of leather necessary mum with a corresponding reduction inthe costvvof manufacture, kit being la ywell known factthat the-costof upper leather has Inaterially increased and is 'constantly Vincreasing.

My comprising a body portion of lleather and an edge portion composed of a relativelyv and adapted to be engaged by instrumentalitiesemployed in pulling overthe upper in the operation of lasting, thesaid strip constituting 7aV pulling-over extension, which l is -theone part kof the/upper that is engaged by thepulling-over instrumentalities during the'lasting operation,-an d is adapted to be removed by the usual-operation of trimming 'the'inseam of a welted shoe.

Ofgthe accompanying drawings forming aV pa-rt -of this specification: Figure 1 repre- -sent'sffa ,plan View of a shoe upper in a fiat4 condition, embodying my invention; Fig. 2 represents a section on line 2-2 `of Fig. 1;

3 represents-a sectional View of a parwhich includes an upper constructed as shown by Figs.l 1 and 2.

The same reference characters indicate the same orsimilar parts in all the views.

Figs. g1 and 2 show an upperr in a flat condition before the heel end is closed by the usual seam, said upper as here shown comprising a leather vamp 12 and `a leatherl toe cap 13. 14 represents aA of tensile fabric relatively narrow strip which is practicallyinel-asticj and ineXtensi- -ble and has asubstantial degree of tensile strength so that it is. adapted to withstand a strain exerted on and through' it for the pur-A pose "of pulling the upper' over uponthe last. The strip 14-is composed of a fabricwhich may be called tape,'thewarp threads extending lengthwise of, the strip and the weft inventionis embodied in a shoe, upper Specification of Letters Patent. Patented-Feb, 19,15, Application filed October, 1914, Seria'l'No. 865,657, I v

threads crosswise and4 at rightangles tothe warp threads, `the strip' beingfwoven with selvage edges, which areof equal or uniform 'length each edgehavingthe same length -as the' opposite edge.

AY`portion is adapted to be grasped bytheusualL pulling-over instrumentalities, which there-l fore do not necessarily directly engage the leatherof the upper. After the strip 14' pulling over the upper, and the upper, when the. shoe is of welted construction, has been .secured bythe usual inseam stitches 17 to ythe inner sole 18 and welt 19 (Fig, 3), the

projecting portion of the strip 14 may be readily cut away by the usual inseam trimming instrumentalities, the leather portion of the upper being of such'area that its edge requires little or no trimming.A

The ineXtensibility of the strip 14 and the parallelism and uniformity in length of its selvage edges cause the outer edge portion of the strip to curl or be deflected laterally at the toe portion of the upperv when its innerv edge portion is stitched tothe upper. Said curled or deflected portion forms a lip or flange 14a which projects from one side of the toe portion of the upper, as shown Fig. 2, and is adapted to be accurately and conveniently grasped bythe pulling-over instrumentalities in lasting the toe portion, said lip .being relatively free fr om folds or Wrinkles, because it conforms approximately .to the outer surface of the t'oe portion of the inner sole.

l/Vhen the upper is closed .at its heell end by -the usual heel seamV and. its lower edge portion is bent over the bottom of the last, the heel portion'of the strip forms a lip or flange adapted to conform approximately to the outer side of the heel portion of the inner sole. This portion of the strip is not reinoijed'by the operation of trimming the edge of the upper to has been utilized in thereto by the lasting tacks v'used in securing the heel portion of-the uppef'to the inner sole, and by some 'of :the nails which at;- tach the heel seat end of the lcuter ,sole to theinn'er sole;

Y The strip 14e, having'v 'longitudinali warp Y threads and weft threads'extending cross- .wise of thestrip, at right angles to the warp threads, has al ie tensile strength required to' resist the strains exerted in pulling. over the upper, the warp threads bei-ngfsubstantially parallel with the edge of thel upper l, and all of theweft threads 'beingI substantially at right angles with: said edge, so that the strength pf the strip is uniform throughout its entire length and' allparts of the l :strip are adapted to uniformly resist transl verse ullinOf-over .strains. The outer selb vage edge prevents liabilityfof' the 'fraying `and ,disintegration of. theo'uter edge of the strip, and the'inner selvageedge prevents thefstitchesl5 from tearingthrough said y The uniformdirection oithe weft .threads crQSswise of thestrip and at right angles, with theedgeof the! upper prevents 'point The selva-ge edges and the-crosswise `extending weft threads render the above de- .scri'bed 'reinforcing portion' of `the ystrip at theheelehd of the .shoe veryelfective and durable, there being Vno vliability of the strip being torn ory broken where the tacks. and

'i nails pass through fit.` ln other words, the

i -je'ctsxbelow the.y upper4 and .451V I Such liningI isl necessarily stitchedto; the

` upperfalong two lines, Aone at` the higher st rip is not liable to away from the sa id tacks tending tocause the latter the inner edge of the strip.

lA relatively ,narrow strip characterized as y,be pulled outwardly and nails, bystrain toy tear through 1 above'stated has a marked advantage over a 'lining of substantially inextensible fabric ccvering'theen-tire inner surface-.f of the upper and ofl'- greater area than ,the upper so that the lower edge of sion by whichthe upper may be pulled over.

edge andthe other at the lower edge of ythe upper. The lintermediate portion of the I'lining is loose, ,and if made Iof relativelyr thick line'X'tensible fabric is -likely to` be wrinkled during 'thelasting` operation, .thus

detrac'ting from ythe.smoothness ofthe upper.

" Moreover, said lining cannot'hav'e selvage ledges,both "its upper and its lower edge being' necessarily raw, andy formed'by the i A operation of cutting the lining lifroma sheet 'o'jfabrfic,`-"The rawoutr for; lower edge is yliableI `to herayed@and disintegrated, es? l liavs'rs'grasp they the fabric pro forms an exten laagste passion Qfeheiiaiag. fabric is extensible er .liable to stretch at the'portions' wherethe andweft 'threads are diagonal or ob.-v

not be disposed at right angles-to the edge of the upper, and all thewarp vthreads cannot hey parallel to` such edge. y, y

. The fabric of the strip 14 maybe treated with rubber cement or other waterprooing' material, if desired. p

Having descri ing my invention-,1I claim: 1. Ashoe upper comprising 4 a body portion 'of leather 'andanedge portion com posed of 'a relatively narrow ,strip of woven fabric practically meXtenSibIeboth longitudinally and laterally andstitched to the outer or lower edge of the body-portion at its inner edge portion to form a pulling over extension, thel longitudinal edges of said strip being of equal length, said strip having weft threads extending crosswise of' the strip, and at right angles to the edge. of the ybody/portion from which the strip extends,

in such manner as to render all parts ofy the strip ofl uniform lateral inextensibility. A 9 A shoe upper comprising a body portion of leather and an edge portion coinposed of a relatively narrow strip ofwoven fabric practically inextensible both longi -tudinally and laterally,andstitched to the outer or lower edge of the' body portion at its inner edge portion to form .a pullingover extension, the longitudinal. edges of said strip being of equal length, the outer edge of said extension being deflected inwardly from its inner edge at the curved toe portion of the upper to form a lip adapted to be conveniently grasped by a pullingtiallyjuniform tensile strength at allllparts and stitched to the outer or lower edge of the body portion. at its inner edge portion to form a pullingpver extension', said-.strip having outer and inner selvage edges and weft threads extending crosswise of the `strip at all -parts thereof.

In testimony whereofv If have aiiixed my' signature, .inf presence of two witnesses.

y Cl-G DAVIS.

`"Villitnesses: p

. DnvmlPranr-ns,

l Emmer? :'WufSrsbMAN.

strip of prag." i tically inextensible woven'fabric ofsubstai. 

